May Gratitude - 2025

“Gratitude takes nothing for granted; is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder” Thomas Merton

Today is the last day of May, and we complete the 5^th month of year – despite being a holiday month for the students and the faculty. I am surprised at the number of students who have been coming to the centre on a regular basis. The issues were more of relationship conflicts, anxiety/panic attacks and few cases on substance abuse.

The one issue that is on rise is the anxiety and panic attacks, a greater number of students visiting me for anxiety issues –I feel so sad when I see students taking medicines for anxiety which can be easily resolved practicing simple breathing exercises, mindfulness and practicing gratitude in a disciplined manner can be of great help.

As all of these helps in shifting our focus to the present moment and also keeping oneself happy by counting our blessings. I am glad that I not only practice all of this, but also teach my students – so happy and grateful as I keep meeting them, they motivate me with their youthful energy.

I am grateful for this month for I had work to do – and I went to work regularly, and am happy that I was safe and secure as I traveled everyday on my bike. I am eternally grateful for the Divine protection that I not only could drive safely but also run errands.

May being the hottest month, I ensured that I had butter milk every other day, as it is the mango season, enjoyed eating the mango along with my daughter. I was bringing mango home, and mixed with milk for Dorothy, as she enjoys eating with milk, but I enjoyed the fruit as it is -grateful for this mango season and for those who brought these delicious mangoes to our area  and sold it to us. 

This month on the 4^th was the death anniversary of my brother V Francis – I visited his family and met my extended family members, met my younger my sister, elder brother, few cousins and one of my old school mate Madonna. I was happy to meet her here and we could just connect from where we left, she was a good friend of mine in school, helpful, humorous and friendly. The time flies so fast and it is  already one year my brother is no more, he was bedridden and life was getting difficult for him.

I used always feel sad whenever I met him, for I have memories of how active he was and so prudent with everything in his life. Grateful for these reminders in life that we are here only for a short period of time, and the only thing that will matter in the end is the memories we leave behind.

This month I met my college friends as it has been a long time, since we met one another, so we went out to a new place for early tiffin’s and we went around window shopping in that area. I picked up biryani from the nearby restaurant for Dorothy as she loves food. 

Dorothy surprised me with a black color sling bag to keep my phone and money as she always found me carrying the old one. I was happy and appreciate her thoughtfulness – I am grateful to have a daughter who is thoughtful and sensitive, and it was Mother’s Day.

I am grateful for the opportunity I get not just to counsel the students, but also evaluate their papers, something that I did first time online and it was a learning experience.

 I am grateful for the online classes I took for the undergraduates on Psychological Competency – more than teaching them I enjoyed relearning it myself as it was so relevant to me too –I got back to the basic life skills sessions that I have been trained in one of the Projects Implementation.

They say when you teach you learn more, as one keeps preparing the lesson reflecting and giving practical examples one learns more – and I enjoy being a learner all my life.

I am happy to connect with my friends online too – as one of our friends has gone abroad, we have been missing her; so, we connected on the WhatsApp video call and enjoyed chatting with one another.

I am grateful that Dorothy is back to her routine and healthy – for she had sun stroke and it was bad, she was dehydrated with high fever; thanks be to God for our doctor who responded promptly twice in this month and helped us. The second time was severe so she had to be given two bottles of glucose, am grateful to God for having healed her, it’s a blessing to have good health. 

This month David had his cataract surgery for both the eye – and we are grateful for the whole process and the doctors who were not just strict but also firm and kind, as he is diabetic it was important that his sugar levels are in control. Thanks be to God for Dorothy who did all the running around in a responsible manner offering full support to the family. Daughters are Angels in disguise and she was truly a great blessing despite just having recovered from her own health, she was concerned about her dad.

I am grateful for all the service providers beginning from my home till my workplace, there are always people working to ensure that we have a clean environment, good and healthy food on my table, kitchen cleaned, clothes washed and at office the premises maintained and process followed to ensure smooth running of the Psychological Counseling Centre.

This month I watched a one movie with Dorothy – which was in Tamil by name Thirchitrabalam, entertaining, a light hearted movie with a common subject and beautifully played out by Dhanush and Nithya menon who is so natural in her role, and Prakash raj brough tears to my eye, all the actors, music, songs everything was magical. I laughed, cried, and enjoyed the music and the songs.

Another one was Web Series in Hindi on Amazon Prime called the Gram Chikitsalaya – it’s about an idealist Doctor who is passionate about serving the poor people selflessly in a village – at a neglected Primary health centre in North India. What follows is the reality of our PHCs which is an eye opener paving path for humorous and emotional journey ahead of him. This was in 5 episodes.  

I enjoyed watching each one of them, it’s a must watch. Sometimes I do watch young Sheldon my all-time favorite – Dorothy introduced this series to me and I got hooked and loving it. I am grateful to God and all those who have been part of my life for this month, despite the heat there was also some showers in between cooling the earth.

I received a forward from an old friend on gratitude – the words were profound, well chosen and inspiring too… I feel like sharing an extract from this post:

 Blood flows ceaselessly from head to toe,

Every heartbeat a silent drum of life

I don’t know what kind of Divine technology powers this system

But the heart never tires, never rests, until it’s time to go.

Two eyes, like camera’s of a thousand megapixels,

Capture the ever changing beauty of this world

Colors, lights, emotions –etched into memory.

 A tongue that performs ten thousand taste tests with precision.

Skin,  living sensor, feeling heat, cold, love, pain

A miracle of sensitivity…..

 Let gratitude be my constant companion;

Let awe fill my every breath.

This is not just a body…

It is a temple of Your presence….

I don’t know the author – but I am impressed with these thoughts… and I am feeling thankful, favored and blessed

Thanks for reading my post!

Be Blessed & Be Happy!